


Oh, To Be A Panda Lily

by 0WritersBlock0



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AND GAY, Anyways pls have this fic, F/F, F/M, Fire/Water tropes, I don't know how to improve my writing if I don't know what people like or dislike about my writing, I haven't listed all the characters but I'm feeling lazy rn, Love You All Very Much, M/M, Okay now pls enjoy, Thanks, There's just a lot of FLUFF and CUTE THINGS, There's many lesbians, also, even if your comment is just 50 lines of anger pls at least send me that, healing and love, it's gonna be fun, just trust me, pls, pls forgive me, pls help me be a better writer, thank you, very very gay, you're gonna love it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24989791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0WritersBlock0/pseuds/0WritersBlock0
Summary: Zira and Kaala, two young benders who find themselves amidst the chaos and politics of the Northern Water Tribe and Fire Nation. Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko have recently decided to create a cultural exchange program for the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Fire Nation. While the Northern Water Tribe drowns in its rebellions, the Fire Nation burns away the last remains of peace after the Hundred Year War ended.Zira proudly shows off her Fire Nation heritage and firebending abilities, unafraid of others' judgment or opinion. A prodigy of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, Zira doesn't care for the program created by the new leader of her nation. She was no Azula, but her abilities garnered her much respect and honor from her friends and family. Kaala wants to be everything except a waterbender. She loves her culture and family, but she hates hiding behind bending when she could be known for her skills and talents, most of which she learned alone while observing the other warriors in her family and tribe. She brings honor to her family and believes in her own individuality.Rebellion threatens their homes, and the girls have to work together to bring peace and safety to their nations, despite differences.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Kudos: 2





	Oh, To Be A Panda Lily

"I can't BELIEVE Fire Lord Zuko is forcing us to spend time with those Northern _savages_."

Zira's father inhaled sharply and shot her a quick glare. "My dear, what have I said about that kind of language?"

The teenager huffed. "Yes, yes. That it's bad. But the truth always makes people bitter. It's still the truth. We're nobles. We should be dining with the Earth King, at the least. But no. We have to go sit in the freezing ice and snow of the North Pole like...like traitors. Like refugees!"

Kinza, her mother, let out a slow sigh. "My darling, I know you're upset. But we're not traitors or refugees. We're honored members of the Inter-Nation Exchange Program, and we must obey the word of the Fire Lord. Whether we like it matters not." The woman of thirty-six years groaned at her daughter's irritated shout and subsequent stomping exit.

She knew her child to be one of the prodigies of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, and she knew Zira's love for the Fire Nation and hopes for its supremacy over the other nations, but the war ended. It ended last year. Yes, there were many changes put in place. Fire Lord Zuko proved his aptitude for understanding the other nations and his own nation. He worked tirelessly for the betterment of the world, and his friendship and camaraderie with Avatar Aang were famous among all levels of the civilian class in the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom.

But some Fire Nation citizens still held hatred for the removal of former Fire Lord Ozai from his throne. They yearned for the days of war, having gained much fame and honor for sending their sons and daughters to the battlefield, firebenders or not.

After personally signing each one, Fire Lord Zuko sent out notice letters of invitation to the Royal Palace to everyone in the exchange program at the start of spring. About twenty families total from all walks of life and all social strata attended his meeting.

"I welcome you all to the Royal Palace. It is an honor to have you here with me on this fine day. I come to you asking a favor. It is not an easy one, nor is it something you may agree to, but it is one I plead you to give me," the new leader of the Fire Nation had stated upon entering the new meeting room that replaced the war chamber. His scar held all the focus of the children in the room while his crown held the attention of some of the men. But his words held the attention of all the women.

One young lady, a mother of two little children and the wife of a laborer in the villages along the edge of the Fire Nation, dared to ask, "What do you need us to do, Fire Lord Zuko?"

The man smiled, his youth shining through the excited grin. He stood from his chair and approached the table of the poor family. They shivered and tried to not squirm. The children shyly clung to their mother's skirt and waved back when he took a seat across from her and waved to them. He held a hand out to the woman, glancing at her husband in slight worry about possibly offending him. When the bearded man simply smiled awkwardly, his wife rested her palm in Zuko's and marveled at the calluses and rough texture of her ruler's palms. She never even imagined that the leader of her nation would have such work-damaged hands. She always thought he'd have soft, flawless hands of a prince pampered by the palace servants since birth. Sure, his father banished him awhile, but his servants would have done the work of finding the Avatar, right?

Zuko gave the children a gentle stare and turned back to the woman. Despite his soft expression, he spoke with the wisdom and strength of a lion-turtle and bore the fearless body language of a dragon. "Avatar Aang and I have planned an exchange program between the nations. Twenty families from each of the nations will go and spend six months in a different nation from what they consider their own, whether or not they belong to former Fire Nation colonies. This is a difficult thing to ask. I know you all have lives here. Lives and families and legacies. I'm not asking you to leave it behind entirely. But I ask that you agree to help me understand the other parts of the world better so that we can continue improving our nation and save its future from ruin."

Tao Min, daughter of a retired general, wondered aloud. "But if we want to understand the others, don't we need to spend time with both of the other nations?" Her husband's eyes bulged at the fact that she had spoken in front of the Fire Lord. He tried to shush her, fearing the impending punishment but sighed in relief when they received none. Okay, he thought, so maybe this Fire Lord wasn't as angry or violent as the old one.

Zuko nodded. "Indeed. You should spend time with both. For now, I'm only asking that you live in one other nation. Two is a bit too much to ask when we've just begun the program and have no idea how it will go. If, in the future, you actually really like this program and want to visit the other nation you haven't visited, you can send me a letter or something, and I'll add you to the second wave of exchange program members. Is that okay?"

Tao Min beamed. "Yes, sir!" Her husband rubbed his forehead and grunted when their teenage son poked him in the face to make him pay attention.

Zuko laughed at the excited grin of the woman and stood from his seat, inviting the two youngest in the room, the children of the poor woman, to sit up at the front with him on his throne. They squealed and giggled, the two-year-old twins unaware of his authority and influence. Their mother gaped at the action but relaxed at her husband's comforting gaze. Who knew the Fire Lord could be such a nice guy? And so good with kids?!

The young children giggled and squirmed when Fire Lord Zuko tickled them, pretending a spider was crawling up their arms and down to their stomachs to bite them. He looked up again at his people and smiled imploringly, addressing the group as a whole.

"I know some of you might not like this program. I know some of you might hate it." A careful, all-knowing golden gaze landed on Zira, who huffed and crossed her arms petulantly until her mother admonished her with a pinch to her back. Zuko chuckled. "But this is no simple favor. This is a big deal, and I hope you all will join me in making our nation's bonds with the others stronger and safer. Please. Help me."

Everyone nodded. And Zira, while she wanted to refuse, agreed for the sake of her parents' honor. She could care less about this program.

No, that was wrong. She hated it. She had no desire to participate in watching the glory of her nation crumble to mediocrity after a hundred years of perfection. She had no desire to hear the gloating of the Northern monsters about how Fire Lord Ozai lost the war and his bending abilities. She felt enough shame about being the top-ranking student in her school that was now under review for so-called cruel teaching methods and human rights abuses, claims made by parents of former and current students of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and of the Royal Fire Academy for Boys.

The methods and practices apparently violate the list of human rights created by Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang, the Fire Nation's Water Tribe Ambassador Sokka, the Earth Kingdom's Water Tribe Ambassador Katara, Toph Beifong, Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe, Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, and the Earth King.

Zira couldn't understand what their problem was, but she also greatly loved her school and wouldn't stand for anyone disrespecting it and its legacy. Then again, maybe all the complainers were poor. That would explain their issue with the disciplining style of the Royal Fire Academies.

The family of the angry Royal Fire Academy graduate collectively got in line with the other filth in the room and signed a document created by Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang, both chiefs of the Water Tribe, both Water Tribe Ambassadors, and the Earth King. The parchment basically outlined each individual's promise to uphold benevolence and good intentions with the people of the nation they would visit, following all social expectations and formal laws of their own nation for the duration of their stay.

Zira had no desire to agree to do anything with those disgusting savages, but she also didn't want to disappoint her parents.

On the carriage-ride back home, the Huangzhu family said nothing, each member remaining tensely silent, primarily due to the internalized rage of Zira. Fiery ice. That's what enveloped the inside of the carriage. Coldness so permanent and permeating that it felt like the burning wrath of the prodigy's flames.

With a flip of her hair, the young woman rolled a little ball of fire over and over in her hands. Only her bending could calm her down.

How ironic.

The only element associated with rage and anger and violence was the one to soothe her temper.

* * *

Kaala huffed at Katara. So what if the Avatar's woman was the best waterbender in the whole world?! She had no business bossing people around and forcing them to bend if they didn't want to. Kaala's parents certainly didn't understand. They learned of the Avatar's girlfriend's plans to spend some time in the North Pole teaching the female waterbenders how to fight and jumped at the opportunity to send their daughter off to learn with the master.

Why?

Because they wanted their daughter to take on some more respect and discipline, which would rid her of her laziness. In her own opinion, Kaala was not lazy. No. She hated that term. Lazy implied a lack of desire to work because of not caring for others' needs or expectations. No, Kaala wasn't lazy.

But she hated having to bend.

She gladly woke up at dawn to help her mother clean around the home or weave blankets for the little babies in the tribe or even cook the soft food her grandmother required to avoid further damaging her liquor-weakened teeth. She didn't mind the chores at home. But bending. That was different.

She knew she was a bender since she was young. Her parents had witnessed their little two-year-old making the water in her soup move with tiny hands that pushed forward and pulled back while the child rocked back and forth in trying to reach her toy that lay limply on the ground a few feet ahead of the bowl. Since that day, they reminded her constantly that she belonged to the most important facet of the Water Tribe's way of life and culture.

It's not that she hated her culture. The Northern Water Tribe was the most worthy nation of its honor and glory. Their stories and power would be recorded in all the great books and told as legends for centuries and millennia to come. The nobility of each member's heart, the kindness in their nature, the deep connection with their community, the respect for the other nations, the valor of their warriors, all these traits made her believe her home to be the best and only place for her. She loved her community, her home, her culture.

But bending…she had no desire to participate in something that would take away from her the little time she had to spend on cultivating her hand-to-hand combat skills.

She prided herself on how she learned on her own to fight with just her hands and no weapons, like all the great warriors of her family's ancestors and relatives. She wanted that kind of honor. She saw no honor in fighting with a gift she didn't have to learn from scratch. Waterbending was a part of her from birth, and she didn't need to think to do it. To Kaala, a skill that you don't know inherently and have to learn for years is the only skill that people will know you for. And she wanted to be known for something distinct, something that was only, truly _her_.

Katara sighed at the young girl's stubborn expression and resolute posture, unwilling to move a single muscle when Katara ordered the other students to use the water in their individual pots to create large orbs above their heads. "Kaala, please. I know your parents are forcing you to learn, but-"

Kaala growled and stood up harshly, turquoise eyes blazing with anger. She never experienced this kind of rage before. She didn't even know what to do with her own hands or legs or feelings, but she did what felt right. Her nimble hands balled up into fists as her shoulders sat back and low, knees locked as her legs straightened to compensate for the proud and strong posture she took on. Her head felt warm, covered in a heat that soon overtook the rest of her body.

"You know _nothing_! NOTHING AT ALL! And if you have even an ounce of humanity and decency in you, you'll get _out of my way_."

With wide eyes and slow movements, the seasoned waterbending master stepped back and to the side, allowing the youth to storm past her and down the steps. Kaala growled and grunted as she pulled her long hair up into a bun and fastened it with one of the bandage wraps tied about her wrists.

Aang stepped forward after the girl stomped away and rested a hand on Katara's shoulder as she rubbed her elbow with her other hand. He looked down at his girlfriend. "She just needs time. I think she's hiding something under her surface and hasn't yet come to terms with it."

"I don't know, Aang. Kaala seems pretty angry with me," she replied dejectedly. With a sad sigh, she rubbed her eyes and waved her hand. The rest of her students glanced at one another awkwardly before standing at rest. "Can you take over for me while I go talk to Sokka and Toph? Maybe they'll know how to deal with this." The Avatar smiled and nodded, kissing Katara's forehead sweetly.

"Of course I can. I'll be alright. Good luck."

Sending one last smile his way, Katara turned and hurried away to the palace of the Chief, where her brother and Toph suffered through a meeting about the historical Earth Kingdom treaties with the Northern Water Tribe.

Katara smiled sweetly at the guards standing on either side of the door. They tipped their heads upon seeing her. She asked the guard on the left in a smooth tone, "Could you please inform Sokka and Toph that I require their assistance in the matters of a young waterbender I'm expected to train? I believe they have wisdom that could help me solve my problem."

Taruk, the guard she addressed, nodded with a playful grin. "Of course we can, Katara." He scratched at his dark grey beard with one hand and adjusted his hold on his spear. "But be warned, Toph is already in a bad mood. History never interests her."

A bright laugh between the two Water Tribe war heroes. "Toph is always in a bad mood. Tell me something I don't know," Katara teased. "Thank you, Taruk." The man nodded, the beads in his hair clicking together when he tipped his head again as she turned to leave.

Almost thirty minutes later, Toph and Sokka sprinted off to join their favorite waterbending genius. "What's up, Madam Fussy-Britches?" Toph joked.

Katara groaned, rubbing both temples with two fingers. "Not now, Toph. I'm already dealing with enough issues on my own. No time or patience for nicknames." She sat up and raked her fingers through her hair before looking intently at her brother and close friend. The two glanced at one another and joined her on the wooden benches in the palace's war room.

Sokka frowned while he listened to his sister's explanation of the issue at hand. "I don't get why that's such a big deal," he replied after she finished. "So she doesn't want to bend. Who cares?"

"Ugh, you just don't get it! Sokka, she's a waterbender. It's in her blood to bend, but she just doesn't want to. I can't understand why! But I do want to help her. I do care about her." The young woman rubbed her forehead and sighed, looking at Toph. "A bender shouldn't ignore their abilities, or when things get stressful, they might lash out and harm themselves or others."

Toph frowned and rubbed her chin. "Well, waterbenders are a tight-knit community," she reasoned. "So, everyone values the group over themselves. They think about the collective. They value their powers as a means of helping others, just like you, even though you learned alone."

Katara listened intently. "Okay, yeah, that's true. So what's your point?" Though an earthbender and the most stubborn being on Earth, Toph thought pretty outside-the-box.

"I think this girl is like me. Individual, different. But she likes it. She wants to be different and known for something other people aren't known for. If you wanna help her, either leave her be and don't make her come to bending classes, or find out what she wants to be known for and show her that she can do both and still be different," the world's first metalbender suggested.

A grin and a laugh of joy later, Katara flung her arms around Toph, to the younger girl's dismay. "Alright, alright. You're welcome. Now get off!" Toph shouted at the bright-eyed healer.

Katara leapt to her feet and sprinted away while yelling her thanks to her friends. Sokka rolled his eyes, snorting as Toph grumbled and brushed off her arms and shoulders. "Seriously, is your sister getting more touchy these days or what?"

"I think Aang's just rubbed off on her. He would hug a fire-breathing rhinoceros-bear if given the chance. I blame him."

Both shrugging, they got to their feet and returned to the meeting, knowing it was probably important, if boring.

Finally, Katara found the young non-waterbending waterbender sitting alone on a ledge overlooking the rest of the city. Kaala observed her home, deep sea-green eyes dim with disappointment. She definitely had something on her mind. Something that turned her away from waterbending unlike anything the older girl had ever seen before. Kaala grunted, crossing her arms and exhaling roughly through her nose, steam popping into sight when the warm air from her nose met the cold air of the environment.

"Nothing you can say will ever convince me to go back there, so don't bother. Just leave me alone."

With a sigh and a start, Katara bent down and looked at the side of the young girl's face, taking in the gentle slopes of her rounded cheeks and the sharp angle of her chin. "I'm not here as a waterbending teacher. I'm here as someone who wants to just talk to you. Is that allowed, at least?"

Kaala sighed. She couldn't deny that she liked having someone to talk to. The Water Tribe was a family, and even Katara, though bossy and annoying as the worst chattering hog-monkey, was still family. "Fine."

"Thank you! Can I sit here beside you?"

A silent nod.

Katara plopped down and hummed, swinging her legs over the ledge quietly. She looked at Kaala. "You're a pretty smart girl."

"What are you even talking about?" groaned the teenager.

A smile grew on her older companion's face. "You're a smart girl, Kaala. You know a lot of things, especially about sailing and battle. You know what tools you have in your box, and you know how to use them. And I'm sure you've seen the other waterbenders here do incredible things. They maintain the Tribe. So why don't you wanna use that tool? Why don't you want to learn waterbending?"

Kaala's face darkened, and she looked away. "I am not obligated to tell you that."

Katara smiled more gently and bumped shoulders with the troubled teen. "Okay. Fine. We don't have to talk about that. But let me tell you a story about an earthbender. He's the opposite of you."

Blue-green eyes peeked at the seasoned fighter curiously. Katara mentally patted herself on the back for being able to get the girl's attention. "Haru lived in a village in the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation took away all the earthbenders and sent them off to live on a barge in the middle of the sea, where there was no earth, only metal. The Earthbenders had to work hard on the barge and do whatever the Fire Nation warden asked. Back in the village, Haru had to hide his abilities so the Fire Nation wouldn't take him away and keep him imprisoned. Three odd strangers came to his town one day, and among them was a waterbender. She couldn't understand why his mother said he had to hide his abilities and never earthbend because she had a very deep connection to waterbending. It's a part of who she was." Kaala rolled her eyes. She knew this story. She'd heard Katara telling it to the younger children who attended Yagoda's healing lessons before Chief Arnook dismantled the restriction on girls learning combative waterbending.

But the older girl didn't stop her story. "One day, Haru was forced to earthbend to save an old man from a collapsed mine, and the Fire Nation soldiers took Haru away. The waterbender and her friends reached the barge and did their best to free the earthbenders, but everyone had already lost hope that they would ever be free. They didn't have the courage to fight against their jailors. But then, with a clever little plan made by her brother, the waterbender girl gave them what they needed. She gave them their greatest tool in the toolbox: earth. No one did anything. Except…for…Haru. Seeing his bravery, the earthbenders fought back against the Fire Nation soldiers and freed themselves from imprisonment. They went on to go home and free their own villages, all because they had access to their greatest tool in their toolbox."

Kaala huffed. "We all know that story, Katara. Good for you for saving all those earthbenders."

"That's not the point, Kaala. That's the opposite of the point. I didn't save them. I helped them save themselves. I had no use for that coal because I'm a waterbender. Coal offers me no advantage. However, I could use the water around me. I had full access to my element. But the earthbenders didn't. It's because Sokka, Aang, and I were able to bring them earth that they freed themselves. They found hope in their element and got out of a tough situation."

A grunt of dismay.

Katara rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, making her look up at the same face that Avatar Aang woke up to a just over a year ago after having spent a century in ice. "I don't know you, Kaala. I agree. But I want to. I want to help you. I see you have a lot of turmoil in you, and I want to bring you peace, bring you balance. Let me help you, Kaala. Please."

The young woman sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Katara. Good talk, but no thanks. In the Northern tribe, we have a lot of benders. Plenty. They can do without me. And even so, once I become one, I lose myself. I'd rather die than lose my sense of individuality. People know me as a self-taught warrior. Hell, the Chief recently invited me to watch one of his strategy meetings to deal with the rebels because of that. I'm not gonna lose myself to bending just because it'll come easier to me than normal fighting."

Katara smirked to herself and shook her head. Seriously, did that girl not realize she'd just spilled all the information the older waterbender intended to acquire with this little talk? Maybe not. One of Kaala's friends had mentioned how talkative the stubborn young woman could get if she decided she didn't want to do something.

With a hum rolling through her lips, she rose to her feet gracefully and strode back towards the palace. It was time for a talk with Kaala's parents. Hopefully, Kaala's mother and father, Amako and Tilmuk, would work with her to convince their daughter to join the lessons and participate. Considering all the chaos in the Northern Water Tribe after the war ended because of the rebels trying so hard to sabotage Aang and Zuko's plans for that exchange program, the Tribe needed as many honest, faithful, reliable waterbenders as it could get.

Kaala trudged along the icy paths of the city. She could find her way home from anywhere. No, she wasn't great with a map, but her sense of relative direction was unmatched by her friends or their brothers.

It, along with her other non-bending skills, was what garnered a deep sense of respect in her for Ambassador Sokka. Even though he couldn't bend, he was one of the most important members of the Avatar's group. His intelligence, creativity, cleverness, strategic knowledge, fighting ability, and overall amazing leadership made him her hero. But, she would never admit it. At least, not to him. She was too nervous to speak around the other friends of the Avatar.

Katara was the exception and only because Kaala had sat through so many bending classes with her as the teacher.

Sighing, she rubbed her face and kept moving, jumping over the little cracks in the ground from when the Fire Nation had attacked the Northern Water Tribe for the first time. "AAH!"

She jumped back when someone yelled in her face. Deeply tanned cheeks flushed bright red from the surprising shout. Her crush, the prettiest woman in the entire North Pole, giggled at the blushing face of the other young woman. "Hali, what's wrong with you?!" Kaala squeaked. "I just about fell back into the water!"

Hali winked and laughed. "Sorry, sorry. Just wanted to surprise you. I saw you coming by and wanted to say hi. Why are you all upset?"

Kaala let a weak, dopey smile melt onto her lips. Hali always somehow knew when the other girl was upset or angry or anything. "Nothing," she breathed out. "Just a little irritated with Katara."

The sweet brown eyes of the other girl widened. "Wait, Katara as in, the awesome waterbender Katara? Katara as in, the Avatar's girlfriend?!" Her face erupted into the biggest grin Kaala had ever seen. "Oh my god, I can't _believe_ you're going to classes with her!"

Kaala huffed, rubbing her face. She shook her head and crossed her arms. "I'm not."

That brightly smiling face slackened. "Wait, _what_?! _Kaala_! WHY NOT?!" Deep confusion and bewilderment settled onto the sweet features of Hali's face.

"You wouldn't understand." Kaala tried to step around the other girl and walk past her, but Hali grabbed her wrist. The young waterbender couldn't relish in the tight, gentle grasp of her favorite person because she was too busy wallowing in her own frustration. She bit back her feelings and turned back, gazing at Hali's sad smile and raised eyebrow.

"Wanna bet? Come on. Talk to me, Kaala. You know you can trust me." Something in her eyes seemed honest, truthful, and Kaala really wanted to agree.

Sighing once more and moving closer to her fellow teenager, Kaala nodded her head. "Fine. But no one should hear us. At all." Hali beamed, pulling her along behind herself while sprinting up the stairwell to rush to the bridge and hurry along a few other roads before hiding up in a secluded area in the junction between two abandoned homes that were previously owned by families of two warriors who'd died in battle watching over each other's backs. No one lived there for years because the best friends' families had moved to new homes, traumatized by the memories of the warriors in those buildings.

About twenty steps into the alleyway crouched a little igloo, built with packed snow and ice that held out the cold air and kept in the warmth created by the many animal pelts and skins lining the inside of the makeshift child-fort. Most of the boys had a child-fort by the time they were ten, having learned from their older brothers or friends about how to build one as a means of learning to defend their home or fellow warriors in battle.

The girls only built them to have a place to gossip and relax in private, where their families couldn't lord over them. Kaala never had one, having been one of the few girls who didn't care for gossip or hiding away in random places where no one would know to look for her if she died.

Hali pulled aside a small curtain made of a wolf-bear's pelt and crawled inside on her hands and knees, being too tall to walk vertically into the short igloo. Kaala followed and reveled at the warmth inside the little edifice.

"How do you keep it so warm?!" she exclaimed after sitting down on a little cushion and leaning against a pile of blankets and furs.

Hali winked. "The secret is to keep the ice on the outside and snow on the inside because it's softer and can be packed in without shattering. And keep the skin of pelts on the snow with the fur facing the inside so that the skin can insulate the snow and keep it from melting while the fur keeps us warm. My sister Selki taught me that when one of her noble friends got her access to the library in the palace. She found a textbook that talked a lot about how the Southern Tribe builds its igloos from snow and keeps warmth in and the cold out. She made sure that I would know how to build a shelter for myself if I ever got stuck somewhere in the North or South Poles.

"Wow." Kaala murmured in awe. Really, even without bending, Hali was the most amazing person she knew. "I wish I had a sister to teach me that kind of stuff. Too bad my brother's just a bumbling idiot." She huffed.

"A bumbling idiot, Kaala? Really? Give him some more credit. He's a great waterbender and quite the clever builder when it comes to architecture. He may be annoying to you, but I think he's pretty neat," Hali defended with a helpless smile on her lips. Kaala's heart clenched a little. If Hali looked like that when talking about Raatek, she probably liked him a lot, and not just in a friendly kind of way.

She mumbled and scratched the back of her neck, pulling back the hood of her coat. "Whatever…"

Hali's soft smile never changed, her eyes settling on her closest waterbending friend. "Now, what exactly is bothering you about Katara's classes?"

Kaala looked at the other girl, silence falling between them as she took too long to respond. "Just…" She took a deep breath. "Okay, Katara's nice. I won't deny that. She's very nice and smart and clever and talented. But she keeps trying to get me to learn bending. I don't want to. People only know my name because I taught myself all the skills my older brother and the other warriors know. But if I become a bender, all of that will vanish into thin air. I'll just be one of the others, just another waterbender, nothing special. Katara's special because she taught herself to bend since she had no one from the Southern Tribe to teach her. She learned a lot from Master Pakku, but she learned everything else on her own. She's distinguishable. We have so many waterbenders here. I don't wanna become one of them and just stop being me. I don't wanna be forgotten," she admitted, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. Hali reached a hand out and gently placed it on her back.

"Oh…I see what's going on. Kaala, anyone who knows you would never forget you just because you're a waterbender. You're more than that. I know you well. And I can say that you're easily the coolest girl in the Northern Pole, pun intended."

The saddened teen let out a weak chuckle.

Hali sighed and scooted closer, making Kaala shiver slightly despite the heat in the space. "But waterbending is important for a waterbender. Even if you don't like it, it's part of who you are. I don't like having all those weird birthmarks on my arms and back, but they're a part of me, and ignoring them won't help me or anyone else. It'll just make me and everyone else and the entire universe more negative, and you're the one always saying that if we want positivity to come out of the system, you gotta put positivity into the system. Take that to heart and try. At least try. If you learn some bending, maybe it'll even help your other skills. It might help spur some more creativity in ways you haven't yet thought of."

Kaala knew she was right. She knew it for sure. But she still was nervous. She didn't trust anyone to really understand how she felt. She would wait. She would wait until she felt confident enough to talk to Katara about what she was thinking, and then she'd join the classes.

Hali smiled and looked over at Kaala, tipping her head up by her chin. She wore the same loving smile her mother did when healing the sick children and babies in their little block of the city. "I know you're confused and scared. Take the time you need, but no more. At least give bending a try, okay?" Kaala didn't trust her voice, so she simply nodded.

The girls' eyes locked together, and Hali moved closer, as did Kaala. Breaths mingled like the air brushing through fresh snowflakes at the first snowfall after the winter solstice. Smiles danced and moved weakly, like the delicate, sleek forms of a master working through his favorite waterbending form. Eyes fluttered closed, shaken by the warmth and proximity and love reverberating throughout the little hideaway. Just as frozen lips nearly met, only moments away from their mutual embrace, a shout of shock rattled the two teens, shoving them far away from one another. Two sets of tanned cheeks reddened, and ocean blue eyes met warm brown.

Hali choked through her next words, face still flushed from embarrassment and nervousness. "Can we…keep this between us?" Kaala nodded.

"Y-yeah…"

They smiled awkwardly at one another, and Kaala spitted it out, unable to rein in her thoughts anymore. "I like you. A lot. I don't know if you do, but I had to say it. I'll go insane if I don't say this now. I really like you, Hali. I think you like my brother, and I don't mind if you do, but…"

A previously red face grew redder still. "I- Kaala, I'm flattered." Ice spiked through the other girl's heart. Someone saying they were flattered by a confession means they probably don't like you back. "I mean, I like most people. As in, um, I like boys and girls. But…I don't trust myself to stay away from you. We're friends. Good friends, I like to think. And I know my family wants me to marry someone from the tribe, a warrior and a man, someone who can give my family good heirs to the little fortune we have left. And I do like you too, but…"

Kaala's heart broke. "But you have a duty to your family." Hali gave an apologetic sniffle. Kaala looked down, nodding her head. "I get it. I do. I'm sorry if I hurt you with all this. I never meant to. The heart does what it wants, ya know?" Hali nodded. The two girls embraced tightly, apologies and sadness and heartache running through their veins and smiles and sniffles.

It hurts to love. It hurts more to ignore love.

Hali looked at her friend and held her sweet face in both hands. "Can I still…just…just for the sake of it?" Kaala gave her a sad smile of her own, nodding.

She croaked out her permission.

Sad, tear-soaked lips met and pressed together, fearful of separation but joyful for the meeting. They pulled apart, and both smiled at one another.

Kaala took Hali's right hand and pulled back the mitten, kissing her knuckles with the kind of gentleness she'd seen her brother use on his long-time girlfriend and prospective fiancee, Imila. The non-bender's face grew a nostalgic smile and the warm blush new spouses reserve for one another when alone in their home. "I am honored to have been here with you, Miss Hali of the Ice-Sloth House."

Hali spoke in her soft, summer-breeze voice she reserved for her youngest siblings and baby cousins, "And _I_ am honored to have been here with _you_ , Miss Kaala of the Leopard-Bear House."

The two girls crawled out of their little hideaway and hugged in the open, faces pressed into one another's shoulders. They tore themselves away from one another and looked up at the sky, sighing softly as they prayed to the Moon and Ocean to let one another have peace even though they lost their right to love as they so dearly yearned to.

And then, someone screamed even louder than when they were shocked apart. They shared looks and sprinted towards the noise, finding themselves approaching the wall leading to the outside world. The girls clambered to the top of the nearest cliff and gaped at the sight of Fire Nation ships chugging along through the icy waters. They shared horrified expressions and coughed, gripping onto the frozen walls of the Tribe's home with all their might. To their terror, the waterbenders at the gate allowed them to pass, and the ship docked upon entering the inner waterway of the city.

Hali whimpered. "Don't tell me this is another attack. I still get nightmares from the last one," she admitted in a small voice.

Kaala shook her head. "I don't think it is. The flag isn't the old Fire Navy flag. It's something new."

The young tactician pointed to the flag at the top of the main mast of the ship, the twisting fire emblem contained by a circle created by a red dragon at the top and a blue dragon at the bottom, both beasts appearing to eat one another's tails. "See how the fire symbol is placed within a ring of two dragons? That's the symbol of Fire Lord Zuko. This is his ship, and I think he's brought his exchange-ees."

"So does that mean this is a peaceful visit?"

A frown gracing her normally cheerful features, Kaala lifted and dropped her shoulders in an uncertain shrug. "I'm not entirely sure. Considering the recent reports of rebels and uprisings from people not wanting to mix with Fire Nation people, we might be looking at the onset of turbulent times for our tribe. That's not to say that the Avatar and his friends won't put them down, but I don't think they can handle it on their own with all the snooping some of the rebels have been doing. And I doubt it'll stop, no matter how many arrests and punishments the Chief doles out."

Hali laughed. "If you were born a man, I would have convinced my parents to let me marry you. You sound like my brother every time he comes back from his lessons with the weapons master."

Kaala rolled her eyes. "Right, because sounding like a dude who just spent an hour with his dumb buddies just talking about the size of their muscles and furthering his own toxic masculinity is definitely a compliment," she teased.

"Hey!" Hali huffed. She reached her elbow out to poke the other girl in the ribs but screamed when she lost her balance and grip. She clutched to the wall with one hand, shivering and straining to grab on with her other hand. Kaala's veins flashed with sudden terror before shifting her weight to her left hand and both legs to free her right hand. She used what little she could recall from Katara's class about sliding through the phases of water to take the ice from the top of the cliff and pull it down to connect it to the cliff in a flat, strong ledge under Hali's feet.

The girls grinned at one another stupidly when the danger was averted. "Okay, maybe waterbending classes are a good idea," Kaala admitted.

Hali rolled her eyes. "Finally, she admits it. Come on. Let's see if we can sneak into the palace and watch the meeting between the exchange-ees and the Chief's people."

Kaala smirked. "As the first self-made female warrior in the North Pole, I think I can pull a few strings and get us in." Hali's awed, hopeful grin was worth the past hour of pain and broken hearts.


End file.
